Design of the eighth banknote series

The 20-franc note

Main colour: Red
Dimensions: 137 x 74 mm
Date of issue: 1 October 1996
Personality: Arthur Honegger

banknote_widget_series_8_design_denomination_20_front.n.jpg +
  • Microtext (front)

    banknote_widget_series_8_design_denomination_20_front_detail_1_01.n.jpg

    DAS UMFANGREICHE UND VIELSCHICHTIGE WERK VON ARTHUR HONEGGER UMFASST SYMPHONIE ORATORIUM OPERETTE UND FILMMUSIK - SEINE MUSIK SCHLÄGT BRÜCKEN ZWISCHEN DER FRANZÖSISCH- UND DER DEUTSCHSPRACHIGEN KULTUR - ALS KOMPONIST UND ENGAGIERTER HUMANIST WILL ER EIN GROSSES PUBLIKUM ERREICHEN

    L'OVRA IMMENSA DAD ARTHUR HONEGGER CUMPIGLIA LA SINFONIA L'ORATORI L'OPERETTA E LA MUSICA DA FILM - IL CUMPONIST È STÀ IN GROND INTERMEDIATUR TRANTER LA CULTURA FRANZOSA ET TUDESTGA ED IN UMANIST ENGASCHÀ - CUN SIA MUSICA HA EL VULÌ CUNTANSCHER IN VAST PUBLIC

banknote_widget_series_8_design_denomination_20_back.n.jpg + + + + +
  • Orchestral works

    The three trumpet valves symbolise the crucial role played by brass instruments in Honegger's orchestral works. Together with the locomotive wheel and compressor, the piano keyboard and the score, they evoke Honegger's famous composition about a locomotive.

  • 'Pacific 231', a locomotive in music

    With his symphonic work 'Pacific 231', Honegger created a musical monument to this wonder of technology. The wheel symbolises rhythm, power and motion, and the compressor stands for technology mastering power. The two elements conjure up the composition's recurrent themes of acceleration and deceleration.

  • Score

    Typical parts of the score of 'Pacific 231' are reproduced. The musical notation reflects an intense rhythmic texture and evokes both the composer as creator and the typical sound of 'Pacific 231'.

  • Work instrument

    The piano is the composer's work instrument. Together with the trumpet valves, the piano keyboard represents two fundamental principles of Honegger's composition: rhythm as a vital, defining structure and harmony, which aims at immediate effect.

  • Microtext (back)

    banknote_widget_series_8_design_denomination_20_back_detail_1_01.n.jpg

    L'OEUVRE TRÈS RICHE ET AUX MULTIPLES FACETTES D'ARTHUR HONEGGER VA DE LA SYMPHONIE ET L'ORATORIO À L'OPÉRETTE ET À LA MUSIQUE DE FILM - IL FUT UN COMPOSITEUR VISANT LA PLUS VASTE AUDIENCE UN TRAIT D'UNION ENTRE LES CULTURES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE ET ALLEMANDE ET UN HUMANISTE ENGAGÉ

    L'ESTESA E POLIEDRICA OPERA DI ARTHUR HONEGGER COMPRENDE LA SINFONIA L'ORATORIO L'OPERETTA E LA MUSICA DA FILM - LA SUA MUSICA GETTA UN PONTE CHE COLLEGA LE CULTURE D'ESPRESSIONE FRANCESE E TEDESCA - COME COMPOSITORE E IMPEGNATO UMANISTA EGLI SI PREFIGGE DI RAGGIUNGERE UN VASTO PUBBLICO

Remember this man's picture.

The portrait on the front of the 20-franc note shows Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), one of the 20th century's greatest composers. The broad-ranging work of this Swiss composer includes two operas, five symphonies, several orchestral works, various dramatic oratorios and a large body of chamber music. In addition to his famous symphony for the steam locomotive 'Pacific 231' (the elements on the reverse of the banknote refer to this work), Honegger wrote extensively in a lighter vein for the ballet, stage and film. The strict formalism and clarity of his musical idiom, with which he hoped to reach a very wide audience, is an important bridge between German and French-speaking culture.

Your settings

Required: These cookies (e.g. for storing your IP address) cannot be rejected as they are necessary to ensure the operation of the website. These data are not evaluated further.
Analytics: If you consent to this category, data such as IP address, location, device information, browser version and site visitor behaviour will be collected. These data are evaluated for the SNB's internal purposes and are kept for two years.
Third-party: If you consent to this category, third-party services (used, for example, to add social multimedia content to the SNB's website) will be activated which collect personal data, process these data, disclose them abroad - worldwide - and place cookies. The relevant data protection regulations are linked in the 'Privacy statement for the website of the Swiss National Bank'.

Choose your preferred settings:

This website uses cookies, analytics tools and other technologies to provide requested features, content and services, to personalise the content shown, to provide links to social media, and to analyse the use of the website in anonymised form for the purposes of improving usability. Personal data are also disclosed abroad - worldwide - to video service providers and the analytics tools of these providers are used. More information is available under 'Manage settings'.